Always Crew
Chapter 32

CROSS

Jordan and Zellman were right on my heels when we hit the hospital.

I didn’t stop at the front desk. Moose was in the waiting room, and seeing us, he stood and pointed down a hallway. Turning the corner, Channing was at the end. He was standing by a desk, looking around him. Spotting us, he straightened, and a second later, a girl looked down our hallway.

I was guessing that was Hawk, based on Bren’s descriptions of ‘serious badass braids.’ The girl had a side braid going down both sides of her skull and falling close to her waist.

Jordan saw her and slowed down. “Whoa.”

I passed her, my chin lifting toward Bren’s brother. “Room?”

He knew. A nod to the right and a “146” was my response.

I headed that way, going into the ER section. He sent me to the main room, but from there, I saw Bren’s other boss standing just outside of an area sectioned off by a curtain. He glanced over, seeing me, and moved back for us. I didn’t look to see who all was following us. I didn’t care.

Sweeping in, I stopped at the end of her bed.

She was sitting up, the entire side of her face already bruising, and a nurse was taking her vitals.

Bren grinned at me, but she was wincing in pain. Shit. Her eyes weren’t totally focusing either.

I turned to her boss, scowling. “What happened?”

“A jump got her on his run for freedom. She took him down right afterwards.”

I was moving toward her, but glanced back at his words. “Alone?”

Zellman laughed.

Jordan suppressed a grin.

Yeah. None of us were surprised, but studying Brock a bit closer, he was. Some of the surprise was still in his tone, mixed with anger, frustration, and uneasiness.

“Hey.” I stepped closer to Bren.

She grinned at me, but those eyes still weren’t focusing. “Hey.”

I grimaced inside. She was definitely in pain.

I asked the nurse, “Concussion?”

She was eyeing me, biting the corner of her l*p, but then nodded. “Yeah. We’ll have a list of things she’ll need to do or not do when she’s released.”

“Bren?”

She tipped her head up, an almost drunken smile there, and she opened her legs.

I couldn’t hold back. Stepping in, I slid a hand around her neck, gingerly cupping the back of her head. Angling my head, I tried to peer closer at where she’d taken the hit. It was already purpling with black mixed in.

She sighed, leaning into my touch. Her forehead came down to rest against my chest, her hands falling to my waist.

Zellman and Jordan moved in, standing on the other side of me. I felt the nurse watching us, now eyeing Jordan up and down. Brock had moved to the back as well. The female I was still assuming was Hawk stood next to him. Channing and Moose moved in on the other side of Bren’s bed, pushing the curtain back for them.

The nurse was taking them all in as well.

“Can we take her home?” Zellman wanted to know.

Now the nurse started studying him.

Jordan nudged Zellman with the back of his elbow, but Z ignored it, waiting for her answer.

She nodded, going back to Bren. “The doctor just finished up with her. She needs some downtime, avoidance of light as much as possible for a couple days. No TV. Nothing stimulating. Her brain needs to heal. She’ll be fuzzy for a few days still.”

Bren’s hand firmed on my stomach, sliding up under my shirt.

Yeah. The nurse noticed that, too, and I caught a soft sigh leave her as she moved around us, pulling the curtain back on her end. Bren fully pressed into me, both her arms sliding around my waist and tugging me to hugging her outright.

I looked over her head to Channing. “We need to talk at all?”

He was watching his sister, his eyes clouded over. “No.” He shook his head, motioning for Moose to move back. “We need to make a stop, then we’re crashing in your basement.”

“Hey.” Jordan looked at them. “That’s where I sleep.”

“You sleep in the bedroom down there. Don’t forget, I know that house. I knew that house before you guys moved in. There’s a couch with a pullout mattress. We’re crashing there because I don’t want to be too far from Bren while I’m in town.”

Channing met my eyes again, holding them.

He was going to see their dad, or I was guessing so, but Bren had a concussion. That’s why that D word wasn’t being discussed in the open. He gave me a nod. I gave him one back, and he and Moose took off after that. Brock and Hawk stepped up, taking their places.

Her boss asked, “You got her?”

Another snort from Zellman, but he was grabbing Bren’s things.

I answered coolly, “Always.”

Jordan added, his tone just as cold, “We got her from here.”

Yeah. Hawk was now noticing him a whole lot more. That was an interesting turn of events.

He gave her the once-over, lingering on her a*s as both of them followed where Channing and Moose had gone.

He glanced over. “How old does she look?”

Bren said into my chest, “She’s twenty-three.”

He shrugged. “That’s do-able for me.”

Bren lifted her head back, glaring at Jordan. “I don’t know, but I’m fairly certain she’s f*****g Brock.”

“You don’t know?”

She shook her head at Jordan’s question. “I can’t tell. I just know she’s known him most her life. That, and Justin is her little brother.”

“The bowling alley guy?”

A slight nod before she winced and sighed heavily again. Her hands curled into my skin. “The bowling alley guy.”

Zellman grunted. “Huh. I’m thinking we need to go bowling a whole lot more.”

Jordan threw him a laugh as we all started heading out.

Bren slid off the table.

I considered just grabbing her, and lifting her, but I didn’t think she’d want the spectacle.

Then it wasn’t an issue.

She walked beside me, and Jordan took her other arm. Zellman went ahead of us, opening the doors, and once we were moving down the one hall, I tossed him my keys. He hurried ahead, and had the truck waiting for us as we walked outside to the parking garage. Once in the truck, Bren and I went to the back. I sat sideways and pulled her down so she was lounging against my chest.

We drove a few blocks before she said to the silence, “I called my dad to town. He came because of me, and I was supposed to have dinner with him tonight. Him and Channing.”

No one said a word.

We waited.

And Bren ended with, “It’s time I dealt with him being back.”

I took her hand, my fingers sliding against her.

Zellman was driving, but he was looking in the rearview mirror at us.

Jordan shifted, reaching back. He touched her knee lightly. “We’re all here for that, you know.”

Her head rolled toward him, and I glimpsed the top of her smile. It was almost washed out, still a little of that intoxicated look. “I know.” She reached for his hand and fitted hers against his, palm to palm.

That’s how we drove back to the house.